Classic Mysteries

A private detective and a small group of survivors from a murderous wedding find themselves trapped with an apparently psychotic killer on a remote island, cut off from the world at large.

It sounded like the perfect story for a movie - a curse still working after 300 years. A macabre twist to a powerful drama - or simply brutal murder?

Clever plotting, pointed dialogue and murder - what more could a reader want?

A car driven by a dead man with a cut throat...a lost gallows on a missing London street...John Dickson Carr's second mystery starring Henri Bencolin, "The Lost Gallows," reviewed:

Rabbi Small needed a break in his routine. An international bombing incident wasn't what he had in mind.

Nearly everyone in his family hated Sir Adam Braid. Only the old man's granddaughter loved him - and the old miser was cutting her out of his will. A motive for murder? Or did someone else hate him enough to kill him? "The Case of Sir Adam Braid," A Golden Age classic by Molly Thynne, reviewed.

On the Classic Mysteries podcast this week, Mr. and Mrs. North only want to draw up a new will, but it's their lawyer who gets murdered.

Newly appointed to Scotland Yard, Bobby Owen finds himself weighing motives, politics and amazing beauty as he hunts for a murderer who might just be an "untouchable" British aristocrat. E.R. Punshon's "Helen Passes By," reviewed.

Another, earlier pre-Orient-Express train ride for Hercule Poirot comes complete with jewel robberies, blackmail, and murder on a luxury train across France.

On the Classic Mysteries podcast this week, you might call it a portrait of the artist as a young...dog? Inspector Knollis had to decipher the secret of Francis Vivian's "The Laughing Dog." 

On the Classic Mysteries blog, Scotland Yard Inspector Macdonald thought he was going on holiday in Vienna. So how did he wind up helping local police investigate some nasty murders? E.C.R. Lorac's "Murder in Vienna," reviewed.

A grim solution to a grim problem: how to deal with a loathsome blackmailer who may also be a serial killer? For half-a-dozen young Englishmen, the answer appears to be a well-plotted murder, one where it will be impossible to tell who struck the fatal blow. Only things may not always go quite as smoothly as planned.

In Archie Goodwin’s world view, the word that best fits Isabel Kerr is a four-letter word: doxy. The dictionary says, it defines "a woman who is regarded as sexually promiscuous." Only trouble was, Isabel Kerr was dead. Murdered. And – with the police focused on a suspect who is both a friend and sometime colleague of both Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe, it was clear that  Wolfe was going to have to get involved in the search for the real killer.

The dead woman was a humble chemistry teacher at a girls' school. So, wonders Detective Inspector C.D. Sloan, why did she have a quarter-million pounds in her bank account? And was she murdered? Catherine Aird's "Some Die Eloquent," from her Calleshire Chronicles reviewed.

On the Classic Mysteries podcast this week, a review of some non-fiction - a book of essays about mysteries and the people who make them. "Unusual Suspects: Selected Non-Fiction," by Joseph Goodrich, reviewed.

Maigret stars in one of these holiday stories, while other associates of Maigret feature in two more tales of holiday crime and redemption.

Too bad about Joe Wilson. The itinerant traveling salesman had a secret. And it’s only fair to point out that it turned out to be a deadly secret indeed – a secret which apparently led to his murder. Ellery Queen needed the truth to keep the wrong person from paying for someone else's crime.

The victim's body turned up under a tree in a park, the body unusually battered and bruised – but that’s not what killed him; he appeared to have had potassium cyanide sprayed into his nose. What kind of animal could do that - and why?

It couldn't have been suicide - the victim was beheaded inside a watched and locked room - but the room was empty, except for the victim. French police director Henri Bencolin stars in the first novel by John Dickson Carr.

A theatrical and criminal problem for Ludovic Travers to solve.

Right from the start, it was clearly going to be an interesting case – the murder of an inoffensive little man with no apparent enemies, not much in the way of physical clues. And that kind of case can be very frustrating indeed.

What connection could there be between a gruesome fire in a London house and a ski holiday in Lech Am Arlberg in the Austrian Alps? The answer may conceal a ruthless murderer.

Princess Olga Karukhin escaped from Russia after the revolution. Was she murdered for her supposed collection of art objects? 

The death of a two-bit hustler was just the tip of the iceberg – that iceberg being a delicate international dispute over a contested strip of land – a dispute which may have involved no fewer than three murders…with every prospect of more crimes still to come.

a mystery with artfully rearranged bodies & missing heads & eccentric characters & assorted mayhem - and funny as well.

Passersby watching the daily advertising show in French's Department Store window got a lot more than they expected when a dead body fell out of the display's bed.

Claude Merivale admits he strangled his wife - but he says he did so while in a sleep so deep that everything he did, he did in a dream. Will the jury buy it? Or can Anthony Bathurst find evidence of a cunning killer at work?

Lord Edgeware's wife threatened to kill him. Now His Lordship has been murdered - but his wife has an unbreakable alibi! Hercule Poirot is on the case!

Trostler was described by Ellery Queen as "the first important Teutonic sleuth." These early stories find Dagobert using logic and reason to solve crimes.

Set in ancient China, Judge Dee must solve a couple of murders  involving very powerful individuals - and some black-haired foxes.

Cécile had come to the Parisian police headquarters to tell her secret to Inspector Maigret. But Maigret, in the course of a busy day, lost track of Cécile – until she disappeared. And when Maigret, now worried about her, want to her apartment to see what he could find – well, by then it was too late, for Cécile was dead. Now Maigret must uncover her secret.

What was the deadly secret of the book that forced Rena Austen to flee her home and husband and seek help from biblio expert Henry Gamadge?

Amid the turmoil of the late 1960s, Rabbi David Small deals with synagogue politics and the civil rights struggle within his Conservative congregation, not to mention solving a couple of murders.

Bobby Owen was spending the weekend at Cambers, planning to advise Lady Cambers on ways to keep her valuable jewelry safe. But when he woke up the next morning, Lady Cambers had been murdered - and the jewels had vanished. An excellent mystery mixed with some pointed British social satire.

Mr. Mottram's life insurance would pay handsomely, whether he was murdered or died by accident. But they wouldn't pay for a suicide. So insurance investigator Miles Bredon was sent to uncover the true story of Mottram's peculiar death.

It was the kind of murder Los Angeles saw all too often. But this time, Homicide Detective Mendoza had a hunch that he had worked on a similar crime before. Would he be able to solve both murders - or would a killer seek another victim?

Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin travel to Montenegro, in the heart of Europe, to find the person who murdered Wolfe's longest and closest friend.

Inspector French hears a young woman's plea for help too late to save her - but when she is murdered, French must find out why a gang seems to be targeting low-level clerks.

Ngaio Marsh is best known for her novels about Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn. This collection features short fiction - some with Alleyn, some with other characters, and most are likely to be unfamiliar to her fans..

On the Classic Mysteries podcast this week, a mysterious cryptogram, sudden death - and a shocking way to commit murder.

Henry Gamadge puts together a daring rescue for a woman held a virtual prisoner by her family. What was the secret worth killing for?

a murder in the Australian outback - and DI Napoleon Bonaparte - Bony - is on the case. Arthur Upfield's "Sinister Stones" reviewed.

Another of Catherine Aird's witty 'Calleshire Chronicles" mysteries with Inspector Sloan and company.

Miss Amanda Gipson was a fine researcher to investigate old murders.  But what if an old killing made a new one necessary?  Pam and Jerry North investigate a possible murder within a murder.

Eight fascinating short stories about cases investigated and solved by Judge Dee, a magistrate (and later court official) in T'ang Dynasty China during the 7th century.

"But that's impossible!" Or maybe not. Not when the story you're reading comes from Paul Halter, a modern French author with a gift for impossible crime stories. Ten short stories by Halter, translated by John Pugmire. Savor the (im)possibilities.

When a small group of neighbors is getting successful stock tips from a self-styled "psychic," sudden death may not be quite as accidental as you think. 

Henry Clandon wanted to hire Ludovic Travers to find the war hero who saved his life. But there were a few obstacles - including murder.

Ludovic Travers was nearly run off the road by a car driven by a man dying of atropine poisoning. But Ludo - and the police - found that the deeper they dug into a case of murder, the more bizarre the clues became.

A blackmailer is driving victims to suicide when they cannot meet payment demands in this classic country house mystery from a top author of the Golden Age.

The beauty of Arlena Stuart Marshall moved nearly everyone she met either to love her or to hate her. When passion exploded into murder, only Hercule Poirot could explain what had happened.

When a fire destroys Starvel House, trapping and killing three people, it seems like a terrible accident. But when Inspector French arrives from Scotland Yard, he finds evidence that points to murder.

The man who followed him home was a stranger to Maigret - but his secret could lead to murder.

The show must go on - but will it be overshadowed by the murders offstage?

A man is found murdered in a hidden escape tunnel being built under an Italian POW camp during World War II.

Young men were dying for no apparent cause. But each had told friends they were deeply in love with someone. Was that love leading those men to a lonely and unexplained death?

The victim was all alone on the upper deck of a double decker bus, despite the pouring rain. But when they got to the end of the line, the victim was dead - strangled. Impossible? Maybe not...

The editor of a gossip-filled newspaper is murdered - but how did the killer manage to poison him?

Miss Edna Alice only wants to improve her neighbors' morals and behavior. How could those ignorant local authorities believe her anonymous notes to those neighbors, pointing out their moral failings, are "poisoned pen" letters? A true masterpiece of very dark humor.

At first, it looked like red paint on the floor of the artists' studio - until the first body was discovered.

Investigator Ludovic Travers was uneasy about that promised murder - but could he keep it from coming true?

Three puzzling cases to be solved by the sedentary Nero Wolfe and his right-hand, wisecracking assistant, Archie Goodwin.

Meet the masters of the scientific skills essential for investigating crime. Fourteen short stories, selected and introduced by Martin Edwards.

Mr. Lomas told the police that he was being poisoned. The Chief Constable thought it was nonsense - until Mr. Lomas's body was discovered the next morning.

Who is the mysterious "Angel of Music" living underneath the Paris Opera House? And why is he obsessively fascinated with Christine Daaè and her beautiful voice? The original novel that led to the play which has become the longest-running musical on Broadway.

"This crime is conditioned by the place. To understand the one you've got to study the other."

Another collection of little-known mystery stories by such icons of Golden Age mystery fiction as Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Marjorie Allingham and Edmund Crispin

Two stories, "The Morning of the Monkey" and "The Night of the Tiger," mysteries resolved by Judge Dee involving theft, banditry and murder.

On Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Rabbi David Small finds the hidden key to trapping a killer. 

Written well after the end of the British Golden Age of Detection, "A Six-Letter Word for Death" manages to combine a puzzle-plot mystery (with a real crossword puzzle to be solved), a classic "country house" mystery and a secret "club" of authors, all tied together with a good murder.

It took Nero Wolfe to demonstrate to police that a mysterious death was actually a case of murder. And that's when life became dangerous for Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.

James Teasdale was living a second life running a carnival game when he was murdered - and his respectable family knew nothing about it until it ended with a knife in the back.

The explosion that killed 3 men had plenty of possible suspects. What it seemed to lack was any reason for the explosion. Superintendent Littlejohn and Inspector Cromwell would have to chase down an elusive motive for a shadowy killer.

Eighteen stories, including a few starring Allingham's regular detective, Albert Campion. All the stories have the wit and style readers have come to enjoy in Allingham's books.

The murder was apparently impossible, taking place in a locked and bolted room. And when they broke into that room, everything in the room - including the victim's clothes - had been turned backwards.

The charismatic cult leader was seen through a window apparently murdering his victim - but when police broke in, only the body of his victim was there.

As a Resistance fighter, Victoria Lamartine escaped from the Gestapo during World War II. Could she now escape from a charge of murder?

Why were the town's residents so determined not to reveal the secrets about Sister Monica to the strangers investigating the murder?

The Crown Prince was being blackmailed, a young woman was murdered while at the dentist's - and a mysterious gem known as the Peacock's Eye  Different threads leading to an unknown destination.

Martin Edwards selects eleven classic short mystery stories, most from the Golden Age of English Detective Fiction, to provide some sinister holiday fare.

Hearing a warning of murder can be unnerving. Hearing it in your own voice could push you into insanity.

Did tension between regular army officers and "fighting" officers lead to murder?

It began with a minor embezzlement - but it ended with disappearances and multiple murders.

In this Agatha Christie thriller, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford must identify two Nazi spies known only as "N" and "M" who are plotting the German invasion of England during World War II.

The victim was stabbed inside a locked and bolted room, and witnesses insisted nobody could have entered - or left - the room. Police Lt. Marshall needs help from an inquisitive nun, Sister Ursula, to uncover the truth.

Banker Franklin Shore had run away from his wife a decade ago. Now somebody claiming to be Franklin Shore was on the phone, asking a family member to help him meet with lawyer Perry Mason. Unfortunately, murder intervened.

Oswald Preston was a very unpleasant man. But was that sufficient reason to murder him on the train?

The millionaire philanthropist died on her way to the operating room - strangled while waiting for the surgery. Ellery Queen realized that in order to determine the WHO, he'd need to uncover both the WHY and the HOW.

The head of a critical military research team disappears, followed by murder. But there's more to Colonel Brende's abduction, and it could affect Britain's chances for survival in World War II.

The body of a headless corpse turns up in a Parisian canal, and Inspector Maigret must find out who was killed - and why.

Someone is stealing hats and other headgear - top hats, barrister's wigs and such - and leaving them in strangely appropriate places. Surely leaving one on top of a murder victim's body was not appropriate?

The great Australian author Mervyn Blake is dead - and nobody knows what killed him. But DI Napoleon Bonaparte will find a most unusual way for a determined murderer to kill.

More than a dozen short stories, many featuring Margery Allingham's most popular character, Albert Campion, including several of her earliest tales.

There’s an awful lot going on behind the closed doors of Flaxborough – lots of greed and corruption, and the usual assortment of sexual peccadilloes not to mention possible fraud on the part of various dubious charities - and, of course, murder.

Inspector Littlejohn knew he had to find a solution quickly before a determined murderer could strike again.

Sixteen short stories, all virtually unknown, by some of the finest and best-known writers of Britain's Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

Did the powerful piano music played by their neighbor hold the secret of two murders?

Maigret takes time off from work to investigate a murder on his own, to help a schoolteacher who traveled to Paris to enlist Maigret's aid.